August 20, 2009

Social media - agent of change

Funny how in an age of connectivity, collaboration and sharing, authors still feel the need to apply a Trademark to a term - Socialnomics - whose lifespan might be a matter of months. He also provides no credits, reference or sources....

Another "shock & awe" video to jolt Boomers out of their lethargy. Gen Y will outnumber Boomers in 2010?? Game's over? Or is it?

The accuracy of many of the statements is questionable as has been thoroughly explained by Robert Cole in his blog on Voodoo Economics here - do please read. It seems that in the rush to jump on the bandwagon, catch some celebrity glitter, or be first to publish, authors are in danger of jettisoning critical thinking. This won't help the cause of changing traditional mindsets and there's no need for it either. The pace and scale of change is great enough - there's no need to exaggerate. Perhaps Robert should have called his post Voodoo EGOnomics.....

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Interesting blog, Anne, but it’s missing an important part of the equation: Generation Jones (born 1954-1965, between the Boomers and Generation X). Google Generation Jones, and you’ll see it’s gotten a ton of media attention, and many top commentators from many top publications and networks (Washington Post, Time magazine, NBC, Newsweek, ABC, etc.) now specifically use this term. In fact, the Associated Press' annual Trend Report forecast the Rise of Generation Jones as the #1 trend of 2009. Here's a page with a good overview of recent media interest in GenJones: http://generationjones.com/2009latest.html

It is important to distinguish between the post-WWII demographic boom in births vs. the cultural generations born during that era. Generations are a function of the common formative experiences of its members, not the fertility rates of its parents. Many experts now believe it breaks down more or less this way:

Thank you HD4080 for taking the time to make such useful input.
I agree that Gen Jones is quite different to the Boomer generation and also believe they will have their work cut out in the next 10-15 years as they assume leadership across the Board.
They seem to be getting recognition finally.
Pontell wrote his book some 8 years ago - Obama's election has helped to draw attention to the distinction between a "Joneser" and a "Boomer" but we have yet to see how they will lead.